Lokomotiv Plovdiv midfielder Catalin Itu scored a goal and added an assist in his side's 2-1 home win over Septemvri Sofia on July 26, then was voted man of the match by readers of Gong.bg with 85.71 percent of the vote. Runner-up Adrian Kova received 14.29 percent.
Itu's winner came in the 88th minute and was initially disallowed for offside against assistant Krist Longvil. A VAR review overturned the call and the goal stood to give Lokomotiv the three points.
Speaking after the match, the Romanian midfielder said: "I'm grateful for what we did today. I know it was a difficult game. We started well, scored, but then Septemvri equalised. We talked at half-time and came back better. I hope to keep doing more for Lokomotiv. I hope we can go further than last season. We lost at the end in both the cup and the Europa play-off. I hope we achieve our goal.
"Thank you to the fans. I know they support us even when things don't go well. Nothing is impossible for us because they are behind us. I thank them from the heart," Itu said.
